Captured by the Beast

Epilogue

Epilogue

Nuri

Taking a deep breath, I focused my attention on my hair as I stared back at my reflection. I had trimmed it short a few months back as a farewell to the old me since I've grown in both confidence and my position as the leader of the Alorea tribe. On top of that, it made it easier to stop a certain individual from pulling my hair just because he felt like it. Quietly laughing, I brushed my hair down before standing from my vanity. As I pushed in the chair, I turned and stared at our bedroom.

Over the past few seasons, our home has changed as well. With Kaisen and his father's new invention, we were able to hang pictures of our fondest memories along our walls but we kept those outside of our room, plastered to the walls of the halls and our living room. We had added plants to our home to make it feel slightly better but we had to keep some in higher places. But, most of all, we added more rooms to our home during all hours of the day. We wanted to have enough rooms to house our friends and family whenever they stopped by but a few were off limits as we saved those for our children.

"My heart, are you ready?" Mizail called, pulling me from my thoughts as I softly smoothed down the dark red dress I wore before stepping out of our bedroom, making sure to close the door behind me. As I made my way down the hall, I could hear my husband quietly talking away. Rounding the corner into the living room, I smiled up at my two favorite people as Mizail held our son in his arms. "Look, Melios. It's mommy." Mizail cooed at him as our son gurgled happily while looking between us with his hazel eyes. Mizail had him dressed up in one of the orange onesies I had made with my mom's intricate designs stitched into it.

"Hello, my babies." I smiled as Mizail handed Melios to me before he went to get our cloaks. I gently kissed my baby's chubby brown cheeks while he smiled up at me before Mizail returned. He carefully wrapped my cloak around me before tying the strings while gesturing for me to sit down. "You know, I can put my shoes on by myself now, right?" I asked while holding Melios' head as Mizail laced up my sandals.

"Yes, but I enjoy doing this." He looked up at me with a smile as my heart swooned. Had somebody told me that married life could be beautiful depending on who you got married to, I think younger me would've laughed and called them crazy. But, as the person I am now, I can see my life with Mizail being so much more different from my previous marriage. He's still the sweet, kind yet stubborn guy I met in the desert except this time, he's not in his true form. "By the way," He started while pulling me from my thoughts, "what do those designs on the clothes you make us three mean?"

"Oh, those are protection sigils. I can activate them at any time if I feel we need them but after the explosion, I've started to incorporate them more into all of the clothes I make. I'm also learning how to make them go off by themselves in case I'm not around to do so." I explained as he finished lacing up my sandals before standing and helping me up.

"You really are a great leader." He smiled as I handed Melios back to him before he put our son in a chest carrier while covering him with his cloak. Once we were all ready, he headed out of our home while Mizail shielded me from the sun with his wing until we got into the inside of the mountain. "I say this all the time, but the Gods and Goddesses chose such a caring and loving mate for me." Mizail added as happiness filled me while I grasped his free hand before kissing it.

"The Gods and Goddesses chose such a strong and patient mate for me. I'm grateful for a second chance at life with you." I smiled up at him as Melios gurgles made me smile even wider. "And you too." I laughed while gently rubbing down Melios' black curls. I always wondered who he got those from as both mine and Mizail's weren't curly whatsoever but I try not to think about it too hard. I squeezed Mizail's hand as we grew closer to my shop. "I'm nervous. What if they don't like it? What if they see me and think bad of me?" I asked while looking up at Mizail, who looked around for a second before pulling me away from our path and down an empty street. After walking a little more, he stopped before turning to me.